Oh Lordy, where has this simple recipe been all my life? Warming, comforting, mellow, meaty, juicy, enlivening, nose-runningly spicy without an uncomfortable “burn”… it was just what I needed on this day where the Jersey mountain temps are already, in mid-afternoon, beginning to make their trek down to freezing.
Using “macaroni noodles” cut from fresh, peeled baby zucchini, cut thin and short, the tomato-less “sauce” to this “chili” is a combination of organic button mushrooms, chopped raw pecans, chopped jumbo medjool dates, fresh garlic, olive oil, lemon and chili & cayenne seasonings. And everything blends to perfectly pair some zesty fire with the mellow bland undertones that make pasta so comforting.
A “warm live raw pasta” is when you expose your live all-vedge ingredients to heat, but just enough to take it past tepid. The food is still filled with all it’s living viable-ness and isn’t remotely “cooked”. In fact, I didn’t even get down to the degree of warmth I was after, and still this dish was everything I wanted — warming and belly-filling in that please-sir-can-i-have-some-more way one can get on a cold night.
And the wee bit of sweet morsels of medjool paired with the earthiness of the mushroom? Brilliant. This is definitely a new favorite of mine to which I know I”ll be turning quite often through the cold months!
(This recipe would also be brilliant for non-raw types — they could could this further to create a wonderful side dish, which would be excellent with potatoes of any kind.
In fact… note to self: For next rawish meal, enjoy with Yukon gold potatoes swathed in grass-fed butter!)
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Recipe for: Spicy Mushroom-Pecan “Chili Mac”
A Warm Live, Raw Vegan “Pasta” for Cold Nights
- 3 heaping cups chopped baby zucchini (I used two small zucchinis, peeled them, sliced them into thin panels, cut them lengthwise, then crosswise into small macaroni-like lengths)
- 2 heaping cups mushrooms (any will do, I used organic buttons), finely chopped (I trim the stems, then chop the rest — caps & stems — together)
- 1 cup raw pecans, chopped (with a resulting combo of fine and small pieces)
- 3 jumbo medjool dates, finely chopped (they will become sticky & clump together while you chop them but, no matter… do your best, and they will separate nicely in the final combining process)
- 1 large garlic clove, minced (1 rounded teaspoon yields a garlicky dish)
- 1 tablespoon cold-pressed olive oil
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon quality natural salt, such as Himalayan Crystal salt
- generous grindings fresh black pepper
Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix well. At this point, it will seem to “dry”, but the mild warming process will extra a wee bit of water from the mushrooms and zucchini, enough to fashion enough “sauce” to dress the “pasta” nicely.
In a deep saucepan, warm everything up gently, stirring constantly with a large spoon. You can warm to the point of just taking the chill off, or to tepid, or to even “very warm to the touch”, whatever works for you. Doesn’t take long. Pour out onto serving platter. This recipe yields enough for two, or enough to take to a buffet for a group to taste.
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